Life Lesson
by samipi
Summary: 1x2, AU, vampire A relationship is all about compromises, and this holds doubly true when you're dating a vampire.


Disclaimer: Gundam Wing, its characters and its trappings belong to Bandai, Sotsu, and Sunrise, to name a few. I'm just borrowing some things for quiet, non-profit entertainment among a select group…the pervy group.

Genre: AU, Supernatural, sort of PWP (but there is a moral to the story!)  
Warnings: a little pottymouthing… discussions of sexual situations… and possibly medically improbable blood donation volumes.  
Pairing: 1x2  
Beta: trixie

Notes: this fic is dedicated to merula and her bri for their wedding anniversary. may you have many, many more! raises champagne glass

**"Life" Lesson**

I had told him, in no uncertain terms, that I was not going to be sleeping in a white, gothic nightgown with a red ribbon tied in my hair. He said I was not to expect him to wear a full tux and satin-lined cape. I promised to close all the drapes every night before bed. He swore he wouldn't track dirt into our bedroom. I assured him I would lay off the Greek and Italian food. He responded with a like promise regarding small animals.

We had a slight scuffle over the cross I wore, but the burn and subsequent scar it left on his chest had me at a disadvantage in that argument.

He agreed to meet my friends as long as it was after dark. I agreed to meet his friends as long as they didn't try to eat me.

We fit together perfectly.

We were young (okay, well, I was young and he was young…ish) and deeply in love. What were a few minor personality clashes or constitutional differences? I didn't get to eat garlic anymore; he didn't get to seduce young girls in their nighties either. Life, or un-life, depending on who you're talking to, was all about compromises.

We had the physical attraction, the intellectual compatibility, the emotional attachment, and we were ready to take our relationship to The Next Level. All it took was a couple dates, a few judicious negotiations—and "negotiations"—and I was moved in faster than I could say "Vlad the Impaler"… but maybe not faster than I could say: "Count Dracula".

So I had to give up my posh, downtown apartment, but I got to move into a grand estate on the edge of the city. It was his one concession to the stereotype, he said, that and he needed the dirt. It was okay. A little echo-y, for my tastes, but I had no complaints. Do you know how fun it was to "christen" a 20 room mansion? Yeah, like that, but better.

As the honeymoon period drew to a close, however, I found myself feeling…restless. I didn't miss the sun; I was free to go out as I choose during the day. I wasn't sure if Heero missed the wild nights on the town, but he was such a bleeding-heart I was sure he didn't miss hunting animals for their blood… But, you see, wasn't that the very root of the problem? Heero fed off me and only me. I demanded it from the very start of our relationship and he acquiesced. I didn't want to risk anything, what with all the diseases and infections floating around in other people's bodily fluids these days. Dating a slutty vampire was like having unprotected sex with a prostitute. Nothing doing.

Unfortunately, what I hadn't expected was that Heero was insatiable. And dammit, he made me insatiable too. There was just something so fucking erotic about feeling the sharp nip of his teeth followed by the rush of giving up a piece of myself, my soul, to sustain him. The very act of feeding inevitably led to bouts of intense lovemaking that could, and did, last for hours.

This was fun for the first few weeks, but I was exhausted. Heero needed to feed immediately before and after he slept. On average, now that it was winter, he woke up at 6 pm. Yadda yadda yadda and we didn't get dressed until 9 or 10 at best. Sometimes we went out and did the date-y things, but more often than not, we got undressed again somewhere on the premises to have another go. It really couldn't be helped; the mere sight of the man made me hard and I could safely say that I had quite the similar effect on him. That usually took us to about 2am and then we had to start thinking about timing his bedtime feeding session so that we could satisfy both of us before sunrise. Like a good little boy scout, Heero's motto was to always be prepared, which meant that it was better to start early and go long, than to start too late and have one of us disappointed.

Now I wasn't complaining, exactly; I loved sex and I loved Heero. Sex with Heero was like…well, let's just say I never thought I'd see the day when I said "enough". But really, for the past month or so, my days had been consumed with sleep, sex, thinking about sex, discussing sex, getting ready for sex, more sex and then sleep again. I fed Heero but I barely had time to feed myself.

I was starting to feel like I was doing all the giving and that there hadn't been a lot of reciprocation in this relationship.

I was not a bloody 7-11!

I'd had enough.

That night, instead of waiting for Heero in bed as usual, I left a note on my pillow informing him that I could be found sitting at the dining room table.

He entered slowly, as if unsure as to what this room was for, if not for an after-feeding-fucking.

I greeted him cheerfully enough. I was not angry with him, per se, just with our current "living" arrangement.

"What is all this?" he asked, gesturing to the food laid out before him.

"This," I said, "is a romantic candlelit dinner. Would you care to join me?"

He gave a solemn nod and sat himself at the place I'd set for him. We ate in silence for a few minutes while he got all his questions in a line and then he began to fire them off.

"Are you not going to let me feed from you? Have I done something wrong? Are you unhappy with me? Did I not use enough lube yesterday? Bite too hard? Does my breath smell, because I swear haven't fed from any rats lately. Are you…Unsatisfied?"

I smiled gently at him and poured him a glass of his favourite red.

"I'm afraid we've fallen into a rut, Heero. I'm not unhappy with you, but I'm just… I dunno."

He looked confused. "The sex is boring? Should we try roleplaying? One of my aunts kept her old nightgown. I have it in a trunk…"

I slammed my hands down on the table.

"What did I say when we first started dating?"

He mumbled something unintelligible but it sounded vaguely apologetic so I let it go. There were bigger fish to fry here, tonight.

Mmm… Fish…

I helped myself to a giant serving of bouillabaisse and dug in.

"Look," I said, trying to talk and eat at the same time. "I'm not sure if you remember, but mortals can't live off the berries and whipped cream we've been licking off each other…"

A look of understanding dawned on Heero's face.

"Oh! Need to charge up?" Heero asked leering at me. "I like it when you can go long…"

I wanted to roll my eyes and say 'no', but that wasn't entirely true. I did need to charge up, and, yes, for all the reasons Heero was thinking about, but I also wanted to use the energy for other, less ejaculation-related, activities.

"I'm a little anemic, Heero and I'm starting to feel like a carton of milk in your refrigerator that's running low."

To his credit, Heero looked properly horrified.

"I know that's not how you think of me, but it's how I feel! I mean, you wake up, take a drink, we fuck, you take a sip, we fuck again, and then you want your liquid dinner, which leads to more fucking, but afterwards you roll over back into your grave and I'm left out on the counter waiting for your next snack run."

Heero fiddled with his fork and tried not to fidget in his seat.

"Tell me that I'm not a walking pantry for you, Heero," I demanded.

He shook his head so vigorously that I felt kind of guilty. He was like a little kid sometimes. It made me wonder when he'd been turned and what his life had been like before that.

"You're not just food! I love you--"

"Then stop treating me like juice box!"

"I wouldn't fuck a juice box!"

"Well, I don't think you'd fit…"

Heero was instantly back to giving me his best bedroom eyes. "Was that an invitation to check out my 'fit'?"

"Oh, I'm already familiar with that, thanks, Heero. That's pretty much why we're here today."

He looked so crestfallen.

"But… I don't understand. Don't you love me anymore?"

I forced myself to put down my spoon so that I could give Heero my full attention.

"Of course I still love you; why would you think otherwise?" And though I spoke gently, Heero still looked wretched.

"I'm hungry and you're not having sex with me!"

I blinked. Well, that was an awkward chain of logic, but I just had to deal with it one detail at a time.

First of all: "If you're hungry, drink up." I nodded to his glass. "You might want to hurry, though, before my blood gets cold."

Heero's face lit up like it was Christmas and he immediately downed the half pint I'd poured for him. Like a toddler with a bowl of chocolate pudding, he was even trying to lick out the interior of the delicate crystal goblet. I smiled fondly at him. It was sweet…in a creepy sort of way.

But I couldn't allow myself to be swayed from my mission. It was so easy to fall prey to that hunger.

I coughed a little to draw his attention back to me…my face, and not my neck, anyway.

"Now that we've taken care of the hunger, let's discuss the sex issue, okay?"

Heero perked right up and started undoing his shirt.

Unfortunately for the rational bits of my brain, I caught a glimpse of nipple and, in spite of my best intentions, a part of me tried desperately to jump up and lay myself open right there and then on the solid oak table for him.

It took me a couple minutes, but when the haze faded, I found I had indeed managed to make it halfway onto the table and Heero was giving me the oddest look, probably because I appeared to be fighting with myself over my pants.

"Duo? Does this mean we get to have sex now?"

I coughed again and tried to regain my composure, straightening my clothes and settling back in my seat.

"No, Heero. We are not going to have sex now."

He actually pouted. Personally, I thought the fangs kind of ruined the effect.

I tried to remain stern: "It's not because I've stopped loving you, so don't go trying to give me those puppy eyes."

"Then why—"

"Sex does not equal love, Heero. Love is about partnership, companionship and communication. And by 'communication', I'm talking about something more than 'oh yes, baby, harder, harder'. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but that entails more than just sex. I want to be your friend as well as your lover, do you understand?"

I paused and watched Heero mull this over.

"Well," he finally said, a little hesitant, "I've never had a long term relationship before. I'm used to seducing virginal girls in their nighties. I usually don't get past the bite-and-fuck stage. You're my first boyfriend and…I'm not really sure... I mean, I'm sure that I love you, but I don't know how…" He gestured vaguely.

Well, aww… wasn't that just heartbreaking. I'd stared this man in the ass and never saw him so much as blush, but talking about relationships had him flustered as a shy little school girl with her first crush.

Damn, but I loved him.

"Come on, Heero," I stood up and held my hand out to him, "put your shirt on and let's go out."

He still seemed a little unsure of just what was going on, but he did as I bid and didn't even question me as I ushered him out the door.

We ended up at a little coffee shop not too far from his house…estate…what-have-you. It was the perfect setting for what I had in mind. It was sweet, it was romantic, and it had real coffee…not to mention the huge collection of cakes in their display case. I'd once asked Heero if he could eat real food or if it was like in the books and everything tasted of ash. His reply had been that while he liked the taste of 'human food', it did nothing to ease the Hunger and so he thought it generally a waste of time and effort. That had been back at the start of our relationship when I had been more interested in exchanging bodily fluids with Heero than exchanging vows of Forever. Now, though, I felt compelled to share my hobbies and loves with him and to hear about and experience all of his in return.

It was sappy, but hey, what could I do about it?

Once we were ensconced in a semi-private, candle-lit booth, I ordered a dark coffee for myself and a mocha for Heero; I had a vague recollection that he wasn't fond of bitter things. Though I was internally cursing myself for not knowing more about his preferences outside of the bedroom…uh…figuratively speaking…I tried not to let it show on my face. I wanted Heero to see how normal couples generally worked, and lamenting the fact that I only knew enough about his preferences to give him a mind-blowing orgasm but that I didn't know how he took his coffee wasn't exactly what a normal boyfriend did in the middle of a quaint, upscale café.

Lucky for me, my precious vampire didn't seem to notice anything amiss with my behaviour. Instead, he was studying the other couples in the cafe and trying to mimic their body language. He was so serious about it; I nearly died from the cute.

However, I was certainly happy to see that he was starting to understand what this little field trip was all about.

We ordered cakes and ate off each other's plates. We held hands and played footsies under the table. We murmured entirely saccharine nothings over our coffees and, when the bill came, we had a good-natured and flirty tussle over who got to treat.

Heero draped an arm around my shoulders as we exited the shop and it was he who suggested we go for a walk through the park before going home.

If there was only one definite and universal perk about having a vampire for a boyfriend, it was that you were never afraid of taking moonlit strolls through quiet and deserted parks.

Holding hands as we walked, we discussed everything from mundane topics such as toilet paper to more delicate matters such as our pasts and our parents. It was easy to be open and completely honest when there was nothing but the moon and the stars to witness it. We spoke of such personal things, things we'd never even hinted at during the month we were 'dating', not to mention the two we'd actually been living together.

But as enlightening as this heart-to-heart was, the night was getting colder and I couldn't suppress a shiver.

Heero was instantly concerned and offered me his coat. I waved him off, partly because I wanted something else to warm me up, but mostly because I didn't think his coat would fit over mine.

"Come here, you silly thing." Heero pulled open his jacket and enveloped me in a puffy, nylon and down embrace.

I laughed and pretended to struggle while Heero pretended to zip up his coat around me. We ended up leaning against a tree, out of breath, and hopelessly tangled in our outer garments.

"So," said Heero, leaning in with his lips so close to mine, "is this where we flip the switch from 'friend' to 'lover'?"

"In a public park?" I was slightly aghast. Heero had shown no qualms about outdoor sex before, but that had been on his own property…his walled-in property. Who knew the kinkiness went this deep? "Wow, I really am learning new things about you tonight!"

Heero only grinned before swooping down and kissing me.

We made out for what must have been an hour. The only thing I could say for sure was that I certainly wasn't cold anymore. At some point, the sharp prick of Heero's fangs against my neck had made me push him away, but when that was met with only a mildly reproachful look rather than the childish petulance I had half been expecting, I rewarded him with more kissing. And maybe a little groping got thrown in there too, just as a special treat.

Heero apparently got really into the dryhumping when he was 'cut off' and so we were both unfortunately taken by surprise when the night began to fade around us.

Nevertheless, we were laughing as we raced each other home.

Tumbling through the door with only twenty minutes to spare, we collapsed together on the sofa thoroughly exhausted in a way that was nicely different from the lethargy we usually felt after a night of exertion.

"Are you hungry, Heero?" I knew the answer, but I wanted to keep the mood of tonight's date, and falling back into our regular routine now would definitely ruin it.

Heero kissed me chastely on the lips before responding: "I'm so sleepy. Maybe I don't need it…"

He might have been okay with skipping his feeding, but I didn't want to risk it. We'd never discussed why he always fed before bed, but since it was a daily occurrence I got the feeling that maybe it was necessary.

"Stay here, okay? I'll take care of it." I pushed him back onto the sofa and jogged into the kitchen to snag the bottle of blood from our Talk earlier this evening.

"Drink this, it's mine," I said, thrusting the bottle at him.

He gave it an odd look, but I smiled, kissed him and urged him to go on.

With a shrug, Heero threw his head back and chugged it, grimacing and complaining about the grossness of cold blood the whole while. I just ran my fingers through his hair and nibbled a bit on his ear. That seemed quite effective against the whining.

It was as I was tucking his tired little self into his coffin in the basement that Heero seemed to finally notice something. Something very Important about which I'd been waiting for him to ask all night.

"Why do we have a bottle of your blood in the house, Duo?"

I smirked at him. "I robbed a blood bank."

"You WHAT?" Heero's facial expression was surprisingly comical. "Duo, you can't do that! That's a really big giveaway that there are vampires in the neighbourhood. Why do you think my father had to leave Tokyo?" He paused to take a calming breath, but it didn't work. "Fuck. Tell me you were joking. Duo, tell me!"

The smirk grew to a full out grin and Heero scowled.

"You're not funny."

"Aw, I'm sorry. I was just joking. I did go to the blood bank, but I didn't knock it over, I swear. You remember my friend, Quatre, the one you let me tell about the vampirism thing? He works there and I had him teach me how to draw my own blood."

Heero tried to look skeptical, but it didn't have quite the same effect when he kept yawning, so he settled for tugging on my braid instead.

"All right, I swiped a couple syringes and other supplies, but nothing that would point to a vampire living in our midst, okay? Now go to sleep, I'll be waiting for you when you wake up."

Heero nodded gently and began drifting off. I kissed him on the forehead and closed the lid.

When I found myself standing there, five minutes later, petting the smooth enamel casket like a lovesick girl with her boyfriend's jacket, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I was such a dork. But I was a dork with the best boyfriend in the world and I was grinning fit to outshine the Cheshire Cat as I went upstairs to our bedroom proper.

Oddly enough, though I was tired from our date and our impromptu footrace against the sun, I found that I couldn't sleep. I laid down on our soft bed, burrowed deep into our fluffy comforter, and then proceeded to flop around in all my restless glory.

My mind and my body conspired against me, reminding me that I'd gone an entire night without Heero. Sure, I'd just spent ten hours in his physical vicinity, but what my body was trying to tell me was that it was Very Unhappy at being denied the nightly pleasures it had grown accustomed to these past few months. And my mind was taunting us both: I remembered Heero's long tongue licking his glass; I remembered his plump lips wrapped around a bottle of my blood; I remembered the way his knee had pressed between mine as he'd had me pinned against a tree, the chill winter air sneaking up my shirt as his hands sought purchase against my heated skin; and I remembered the way he'd moaned when he had his first bite of triple chocolate cake.

I was so fucking hard.

At around 10 am, I gave up the fight and just got out of bed. Nothing was appeasing my body's appetite and I had a sneaking suspicion that I now knew what a vampire's Hunger really felt like. If it was anything like what I was going through right now, it was no wonder Heero had been so eager when I agreed to date him and provide him with a ready and willing source. I would have given my right leg if I could have Heero at my beck and call right now. I even seriously contemplated waking him up; it wasn't as if the sunlight could penetrate through to the basement, right?

But that was selfish, of course. Heero had spent the night on less blood than he would normally take from me. He really needed to rest up and recoup some of his energy; otherwise there was the very real risk that he'd drain me when he woke.

I never said there weren't risks involved when one was dating a vampire.

The only thing I could do was busy myself with the laundry and errands to the drug store to pick up some more lube and some lotion for…chaffing…

Well, I did say I'd tried very hard to ease my body's Issues, didn't I? Dealing with the consequences was enough to keep me occupied for the day. It was hard washing a down duvet, two pillow cases, two pillow shams, a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, a mattress cover, and the drapes from our canopy bed.

I resolved to talk to Heero about moving the washing machine from the main floor up to the third where our bedroom was.

As I was hanging the heavy velvet drapes back onto our bed, I looked over and noticed that the door to Heero's walk-in closet was ajar. Being that my boyfriend was always one to worry about dust and smells getting into his clothes, I thought I'd better close it tight.

I peeked in first, however, just to make sure that everything was still as clean and neat as Heero liked it, and that was when I saw the old wooden trunk tucked in the back corner. I'd been in Heero's closet before, but I'd never paid attention to its contents because usually I was…"busy"…and, truthfully, Heero and I hadn't been spending a lot of time in our clothes lately, so I hadn't even really seen the contents of my own closet much, let alone his. Although, I seemed to recall him saying something about a trunk last night…

Okay, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was so horny I could barely see straight, never mind think straight, but when I opened that trunk and saw a neatly folded, white, Victorian nightgown and a length of red satin ribbon lying on top, I was suddenly possessed of a crazy, erotic idea with which to reward Heero for being such a perfect boyfriend.

Forty minutes after sunset, and about fifteen minutes before Heero was due to wake, I began my preparations. I traipsed into the basement and laid out Heero's tuxedo for him, including the satin-lined cape and the Italian leather wing-tip shoes. Next I went back upstairs, changed into the nightie and seated myself at the antique vanity in our bedroom. I unbraided my hair, shook it out and tied it with the red ribbon Alice-in-Wonderland-style. I didn't quite know what to make of the remainder of the ribbon, though, as even after tying it into a big bow, I still had a good couple inches left, and so I just tucked the ends behind my ears and hoped it didn't ruin the illusion.

Now all I had to do was sit, brush my hair, hum a little tune, and patiently wait to be debauched.

In the end, I actually had to admit that the roleplaying with the nightgown and the red ribbon wasn't so bad after all. I was surprised at what Heero could do with four feet of high quality satin ribbon. He said we'd only hit the tip of the iceberg too. And have you seen the man in a full tux? I'd put on a purple teddy and let him call me Nanette for that sight. Eating ridiculous amounts of spinach and going to the blood bank twice a month to 'liberate' a few things were easy prices to pay if I got to see more of the Tuxedo-clad Seducer. And you'd be amazed what Heero was willing to do for a slice of triple chocolate cake.

Now that there really was a bit of me in the pantry, as it were, we had the freedom to work in a bit more variety into our nights. Oh, sure, there was still some biting and sucking, a little blood play, and a lot of sex, but there was also some eating out, watching movies, and strolling under the moonlight. Sometimes Heero would go the whole night just on stored blood and we'd do the clichéd, romantic dates; sometimes he sucked and we fucked until I was so drained I couldn't bring myself to move until the next sunset.

Everything was perfect.

So there it was. Life, or un-life, was all about compromises. Who told me to go falling in love with a big, blood-sucking sex maniac? I did, that's who.

END


End file.
